Tablets in Education

After reading several of the articles found in the Uses of iPads in Education link, I do believe that iPads highly benefit both students and teachers and should be a part of the educational system.

1. The first article I read was "iPads Only Algbera Course." This link jumped out to me because I am looking to teach middle school math. Allowing students to personally and visually use step-by-step instructions, provide instant feedback on assignments and practice problems, and links for the students to view tutorials on the information they aren't understanding, the use of iPads makes a subject that many find dull more interesting and easy you to comprehend. Instead of walking around the room, teachers can monitor their students' performances via wifi and provide student specific feedback. With apps that are geared towards math, students can learn math steps with more than just grudgingly jotting the steps down over and over again.

2. The second article I looked at was "Schools See Rising Scores With iPads." This interested me because if iPads really do help improve test scores, then I could see many school systems pushing for school and system wide iPads, depending on budgets. The article states that students seem to be more engaged in class because of the hands-on learning the iPad provides them. It also shows that students have a more open and efficient gateway to their teachers, allowing them to communicate and email their instructors faster and in a more personal way. The article shares that students seem to be more engaged in their studies with iPads because the learning is happening on their own turf: with technology. It's like giving students their own tools to learn topics and lessons that are new to them.

3. I also looked at the iPad academy, and I found it very intriguing. To me, it almost seemed like what we are doing in our class. It is a course solely dedicated to teaching how to use one's iPad and become more effective with it. I was actually quite surprised that they have actual classes that are geared towards the iPad alone. When it translate to an elementary, middle, or high school atmosphere, I think a class like this would be the most productive if it is used like how our class is. Just like Dr. Krug said our class is used as a precursor to the MAP program, an iPad academy could be a prerequisite course before a student begins his or her regular classes. I'm not sure that an iPad academy could work system wide or not, but I think it would be a very useful tool in helping students learn how to benefit from having an iPad in the classroom.